


At the Piano

by iwillbeyourrockdoooooog



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Fix-It, M/M, We need more Zach & Alex time, Zalex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:35:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26663044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwillbeyourrockdoooooog/pseuds/iwillbeyourrockdoooooog
Summary: What could’ve happened if Alex & Zach left the party together like they were supposed to.
Relationships: Zach Dempsey/Alex Standall
Comments: 2
Kudos: 66





	At the Piano

**Author's Note:**

> cw: mentions of underage drinking and charlie st. george’s easy-bake edibles

Charlie’s cookies definitely haven’t kicked in yet, so Alex knows he’s not experiencing some sort of weed-induced hallucination when he hears the distant chime of piano keys from the living room.

“Oh shit.”

He’s on his feet making a bee-line for the hallway before Charlie can even ask what’s wrong. He pauses in the doorway just long enough to offer a cursory explanation that he’s not sure makes any sense in the moment. “Uh that’s Zach out there, playing the piano. Which means he’s like _stupid_ hammered. Which means I’ve gotta get him home before he does something stupid.”

“Drive safe!” Charlie calls after him. He doesn’t question how he knows it’s Zach. It’s probably for the best. Alex follows the sound of Zach’s improvised melody out into the living room.  
  
Zach’s lost in his own little haze of warm light and drunken melody when he spots Alex closing in on him from across the crowd. He throws the blue-eyed boy one of those weird raised-eyebrow-plus-half-smirk looks—part of his new flirty-but-platonic “hot banter” thing he’s been doing ever since that embarrassing night on the rooftop.

 _Great, so he is plastered,_ Alex thinks to himself as he nears the piano. He follows Zach’s gaze to where his hands drift over the keys with inebriated levity. Alex hasn’t seen him play in months. 

“Having fun there?”

“You just missed me helping Clay scheme his way into losing his virginity.”

“Sounds disgusting. Can’t believe I missed it.” 

Even when he’s talking, Zach’s hands never stop moving across the keys, and he’s still staring at the other boy in that weird half-lidded way. It’s nearly distracting enough to make Alex forget why he came out here. 

“Hey, we should probably get out of here before things get too crazy. And before you get any more drunk than you already are.” He reaches over to inspect the plastic cup full of Zach’s mystery drink.

“Come on, you don’t have any song requests?”

He’s half-joking but Alex answers sincerely: “Maybe some other time, but we seriously have to go like right now. I’m about 10 minutes in on one of Charlie’s weed cookies and I’ve gotta have us both back to my place before that shit kicks in.”

Zach scoffs, “You let Charlie feed you one of his Easy Bake edibles? Shit. Okay, stoner, we better go then.” 

He resists Alex’s pulling on his arm long enough to hammer out a final resolving chord to his improvised tune, and then the shorter boy is dragging him by his jacket sleeve to the door.

Between two bum legs and Zach’s inebriation, it takes way longer than it should to make it out of the noise and into the fresh night air. At some point, Zach starts mumbling something about abandoning Clay but he doesn’t make it to the end of his sentence before he’s making some joke about Alex’s hand on his bicep. _He’s annoying,_ Alex thinks to himself. He decides not to think about how that accusation doesn’t really hold up considering he’s the one who’s embarrassingly and hopelessly in love with his best friend.

“Hey, toss me the keys,” he calls when they reach Zach’s car.

“Wow, after all this time you finally get to drive her,” Zach remarks as he slides into the passenger seat and pats the side of the car affectionately.

“Yeah well, you’re drunk and my other foot works now so—“ As Alex puts the car in drive, Zach is once again off in his own little world, letting his hand graze the air through the window.

With a small smirk to himself, the brown-eyed boy responds, “Yeah and your hand works, and your dick works. Come to think of it, there’s no good reason why you still haven’t put out.”

A few months ago, before the kiss that made things blurry and awkward between them, Alex might’ve felt his face heat up at Zach’s ‘no-homo’ flirtation. He might’ve even joked back. Tonight, however, Alex’s eyes narrow on the road and his fingers tense on the wheel. “Yeah well maybe it has something to do with the fact that you’re drunk and I don’t owe you anything.”

He doesn’t mean for it to come out so aggressive—He’s fully aware that now is not a good time to let loose the fact that Zach’s relentless platonic flirting stings more and more each time—but in the moment he’s just grateful that it shuts Zach up. They let silence fill the car and Alex focuses on getting home.

•

They move wordlessly through the house up to Alex’s room. If either of the Standall parents are home, they’re asleep, but respect for their slumber isn’t keeping boys quiet so much as what Alex said in the car—which isn’t helped by Zach sulking up the stairs, hanging his head in melancholy. He’s always been more melodramatic than people give him credit for.

Alex knows he could easily remedy that sadness by just telling Zach he didn’t do anything wrong—that his ‘hot banter’ wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for Alex’s feelings getting in the way. But that would require coming clean about those feelings. And after lying about them in the locker room, on the rooftop, and so many other instances—denying it and then blaming the parts they couldn’t deny on physical contact or adrenaline or whatever—Alex feels like the truth could implode everything they have.

What’s even more fucked up is that, as the shorter boy nears the top of the stairs, everything around him starts moving in half-speed. When they finally reach his room, Alex doesn’t even bother trying to make it to his bed, instead collapsing against the inside of the door where his body just sort of melts onto the floor. After a second, he notices Zach staring, looking incredibly confused.

“I am... extremely high right now,” Alex vaguely gestures at himself as explanation.

Zach’s stony look of concern cracks as he giggles—maybe out of relief or maybe out of amusement at his friend’s dishevelment—either way, they’re glad to have broken the tension lingering from the car ride, and Alex thinks to himself, _Maybe we can ignore it, and we won’t ever have to talk about it, and nothing will have to change between us._

“Hey man...”

_Fuck. Of course he wants to talk about it._

“...so you seemed kinda upset in the car earlier when I was joking with you and I just wanted you to know that you can tell me anything. And if it’s something I did... or said, or whatever, I’d rather you tell me so you don’t have to just keep it—“

“I need you to stop flirting with me as a joke.”

Alex doesn’t notice his eyes have been squeezed shut until he realizes he needs to open them to gauge the other boy’s reaction.

At first, Zach seems surprised at the idea that ‘hot banter’ was the problem that had made Alex upset with him. And since, more than anything, the brown-eyed boy just wants for things to be okay between them, he gives his friend a reassuring half-smile and comes over to sit next to him by the door, “Oh okay, that’s no big deal, man. I’ll stop, no questions asked. Was that all that was bothering you?”

 _That fucker,_ Alex thinks about the other boy’s unwavering earnestness, and his uncanny ability to always say the right thing. And the way his face turns up in genuine concern that makes Alex feel like he could tell him anything and it’d be okay. He grits his teeth, stares at the ceiling, and lets his friend hear it.

“It meant something to me.” 

Alex notices Zach turning to look at him as he speaks and he almost cant get through the rest of it. Almost. 

“When I kissed you, it wasn’t just adrenaline or whatever. It meant something to me. So your whole platonic flirting thing? It’s not fair to me.”

Alex realizes he has to look at the other boy again for this next part. _The grand reveal._ “It’s not fair because it doesn’t mean something to you like it does to me.”

For a second, Alex wonders if he’s so stoned the world stopped moving. Because they’re sat there, on the floor of his bedroom, looking into each other’s eyes for an inordinately long time... and Zach just doesn’t move. Alex swears the boy only blinks like once for what feels like forever. The blue-eyed boy can’t get a read on him either—can’t tell if he just ruined everything by telling his best friend the truth. _Love will tear us apart._ Every time. Every fucking time.

“It means something to me too.”

_Oh._

And suddenly, having finally broken the silence, the taller boy moves in at half-speed, eyes finally closed and no longer swallowing the other boy with their deep brown bewilderment. And maybe they should stop and talk about what exactly it means to him. Maybe. But, somehow, it feels like he’s already said everything he needs to. And then their lips touch and everything is TV static and warmth.


End file.
